Thyroid Replacement
Thyroid hormones (TSH, T3 and T4) stimulate and maintain many metabolic processes in your body. Thyroid hormone replacement therapy is one of the unabashed successes of modern clinical medicine. It is standard medical therapy to replace thyroid hormone in anyone exhibiting fatigue, thickened skin, constipation, decreased reflexes, and weight gain if he or she has low thyroid hormone levels as well. Hashimoto’s disease, the most common cause of low thyroid levels, is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland making it unable to produce adequate levels of thyroid hormones. This is a very common disorder (you probably know someone with it), which can occur at any age, but its incidence increases with age. It is estimated that as many as 10% of adults over 65 have the disorder. We routinely check blood levels of thyroid hormones in all our patients, including screening for autoimmune thyroid disease, and treat as necessary. Treatment may consist or T4 replacement or T4 and T3 replacement and is individually tailored to each patient’s needs based on thyroid function tests.
